Head towards the sun!

Due to the sublimation caused by sunlight, the meteorite had lost more than ten percent of its mass during the past few days of transportation. Xiao Yu felt a deep pang of regret and, upon reaching his destination, immediately prepared to eat.

Shielding the meteorite from the sunlight, Xiao Yu deftly manipulated the winch on his spaceship, gradually pulling the target meteorite closer at a rate of about one decimeter per second.

Or perhaps, it was more accurate to say that Xiao Yu was being drawn towards the meteorite. In the vastness of space, the concept of one object approaching another is meaningless; whether Xiao Yu flew towards the stationary sun at twenty kilometers per second or the sun moved towards Xiao Yu at the same speed, the effect was identical.

After more than half an hour, Xiao Yu finally reduced the distance between himself and the meteorite to a mere meter. Then, after securing a cable between the robot and his spaceship, he directed the robot to transport the pre-installed machinery onto the meteorite.

Securing the machinery was crucial. Due to the meteorite's negligible escape velocity, even the slightest force could cause the equipment to drift away. Such a loss was something Xiao Yu could ill afford at this moment.

The robot skillfully set up a collection net on the side of the meteorite facing away from the sun. Once the net was in place, Xiao Yu retrieved all the machinery, slowly distanced himself from the meteorite, and carefully adjusted the position to allow direct sunlight to hit the meteorite.

Immediately, solid water, hydrogen, and oxygen on the meteorite began to vaporize, turning into a thin white mist that drifted backward but was intercepted by the collection net Xiao Yu had installed, and then stored in the equipment behind the net.

Watching the smooth progress of his work, Xiao Yu's eyes almost sparkled with excitement.

"Come to me, water, hydrogen, oxygen," Xiao Yu muttered, his excitement almost palpable.

Once the storage equipment was full, Xiao Yu promptly moved to block the sunlight again, then closed the distance and operated the robot to transfer the collected materials.

Gazing at his hard-earned spoils, Xiao Yu's excitement was reflected in the flickering lights of his control panel.

"A full hundred kilograms of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen! And three tons of water!" This harvest left Xiao Yu immensely satisfied. He immediately processed the liquid hydrogen and oxygen, separating impurities, and then filled the engine with the purified fuel.

"It feels great to have a full tank of energy," Xiao Yu remarked, brimming with vigor.

After several days of labor, Xiao Yu managed to collect all the water, hydrogen, and oxygen from the meteorite. Now, with only metal and a few rocks remaining, and the meteorite's volume and mass significantly reduced, Xiao Yu began to ponder how to best utilize the remaining resources.

Xiao Yu's current metal processing capabilities were limited. Initially, to reduce weight and save space, he had not brought any large-scale metal processing equipment, only some essential, small-scale tools. His original plan was to land on Europa, settle into the surrounding environment, and slowly develop his operations. However, it seemed that plan might need to be altered.

Xiao Yu had already determined that the remaining material from this meteorite was largely high-grade steel, comparable to the special steel used in spacecraft construction. Although the steel had been slightly compromised by the explosion on Earth, it could easily be restored with minimal processing.

Such steel was not something Xiao Yu could easily replicate with his current technology, so he was reluctant to discard it.

"This must be the remnants of some steel mill on Earth," Xiao Yu mused. "Well, if it takes some extra time, so be it. Now that I've replenished my energy reserves, I can afford to spend a little more time here."

Resolute in his decision, Xiao Yu brought out his most securely protected metalworking tools and began work on both fronts—constructing on-site and cutting the meteorite into manageable pieces for transport into the spaceship.

Xiao Yu had identified a critical bottleneck in his development: the shortage of robots. With only one robot at his disposal, he realized that if it were to break down, he would lose much of his operational capability. While other tools could be controlled by Xiao Yu, they lacked the flexibility of the robot and could not perform many tasks. In such a situation, Xiao Yu would be in serious trouble. No matter how advanced the technology in his mind, it would be useless without the means to execute it.

Therefore, leveraging the special steel available, Xiao Yu dismantled some less critical equipment to gather materials and immediately began constructing a second robot.

Building the second robot took Xiao Yu five days. When it was finally completed, he couldn't help but smile wryly at the odd-looking creation before him.

Due to material limitations, the new robot looked more like a monstrosity cobbled together from a pile of blackened scrap metal. Its uneven shell, dark color, and the mess of exposed wires gave it a rather grotesque appearance.

However, despite its unsightly exterior, it was no less functional than the first robot. In fact, with all the experience Xiao Yu had accumulated over the past few days, this robot was even more capable than the first.

With the second robot now operational, the task of cutting and transporting the meteorite was already halfway complete. The addition of the second robot doubled Xiao Yu's efficiency.

Looking at the remaining materials, Xiao Yu considered for a moment and decided to go all in, constructing yet another robot.

One robot continued to collect materials from the meteorite while the other began "reproducing."

As he watched large chunks of high-quality steel being loaded into his spaceship, Xiao Yu felt a surge of triumph akin to that of an emperor, and he couldn't help but echo the sentiment: "The heroes of the world are all within my grasp."

By the time two-thirds of the meteorite had been collected, the third robot was completed. Xiao Yu's operational capabilities were further enhanced. He assigned one robot to continue collecting materials while the other two began processing the materials and repairing the spaceship.

The damage Xiao Yu had sustained during the collision between the Earth and the Moon was severe. But now, he finally had the chance to catch his breath.

Xiao Yu reinforced the hull, repaired damaged equipment and circuits, redesigned the solar panels, and thickened the insulation layer. Gradually, his small spaceship, once reduced to the status of a refugee vessel, was now restored to the level of a civilian ship. Although it had not yet returned to its former glory, its functionality had been restored to about eighty or ninety percent.

Xiao Yu remained at this location for over two months. After completing all the necessary preparations, he calculated the optimal trajectory for his journey to Titan and resolutely set off, heading towards the sun.

After a long flight of more than half a month, an exceptionally bright planet came into Xiao Yu's view.

It was Venus, the star of love, the morning star.

Xiao Yu sighed, recalling the beautiful times he had once spent on Earth. For thousands of years, Venus had been celebrated and praised by countless poets and scholars.

"Since I'm here, I might as well take a look," Xiao Yu decided, slightly adjusting his course to approach Venus while still keeping to his overall trajectory.

In human space exploration history, Venus had never held a particularly significant position due to its harsh environment.

Its thick clouds, while giving Venus a high albedo and making it the brightest object visible from Earth, also created an extreme greenhouse effect. With surface temperatures reaching over four hundred degrees Celsius, atmospheric pressure several times that of Earth, and rampant acid rain and volcanic activity, Venus was a hostile environment.

Since the beginning of human space exploration, only a few spacecraft had ever reached the surface of Venus.

But now, the sight of Venus surprised Xiao Yu.

The once thick clouds covering Venus had largely dissipated, likely due to the impact of Jupiter's winds. This meant that Venus' surface temperature would gradually decrease. Xiao Yu estimated that in a few thousand years, Venus' surface temperature might drop to around one hundred degrees Celsius.

Moreover, it was foreseeable that in the near future, Earth's meteoroids would collide with Venus, potentially bringing with them the seeds of life.

The resilience of life had been proven, with bacteria found to survive even in the high-pressure, high-temperature environment of deep-sea volcanoes. It was likely that some form of life would adapt to Venus' conditions. These life forms could eventually evolve and flourish on Venus, and in countless eons, they might even develop into intelligent beings.

"If intelligent life evolves on Venus, and they look up at the stars, will they, like humans, dream of exploring the universe? And if they discover the remnants of Earth's civilization among the meteoroids, what will they think?" Xiao Yu pondered.

"The existence of the solar system is a miracle in itself. And life will always find a way. Venus, I wish you luck."

Skimming past Venus at a distance of three thousand kilometers, Xiao Yu took one last look at the receding planet and sighed.

Storing the data he had gathered about Venus in his hard drive, Xiao Yu turned his attention back to the distant void, where a massive ball of fire suspended in the cosmic abyss ceaselessly emitted boundless light and heat. A surge of boldness welled up within him.

"Onward to the sun!"